PUTRAJAYA: Tudor Pro Cycling Team’s Lennart Jasch concluded his historic campaign at the 30th edition Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), emerging the overall champion on Sunday (Oct 4) after the final Stage 8.
The 25-year-old former speed skater finished the 188.3km final stage from Muar to Putrajaya in a bunch sprint, crossing the line in 25th place with a time of 4’05:17.
The result easily preserved his lead in the orange jersey standings, which he held continuously since his Stage 2 victory from Taiping to Gunung Jerai.
Jasch completed the eight-stage, 1,285.5km ProSeries race in a total time of 28’57:02, finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA’s Abel Balderstone (28’57:28).
"Balderstone’s teammate, Jan Castellon, rounded out the podium in third (28’57:44).
"This means a lot to me. It's my first professional GC (general classification) win and the first time I've won a race outside of Italy,” said Jasch, who only began racing professionally three years ago.
“It is something very special and will definitely stay in my memory for the rest of my life.”
Jasch credited his teammates for their support throughout the week.
“On paper it may look easy, but it was not at all.”
“We came with high hopes, but to actually win here was something we ourselves did not believe in initially.”
“We thought maybe I could be in the top five. Then after I won the second stage, we started to realise that maybe I was the strongest rider,” added Jasch, who also won the King of Mountain (polka-dot jersey) with 45 points.
Stage 3’s surprise winner Petr Rikunov from Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu gave him a close fight but ultimately had to settle for second with 41 points.
Meanwhile, Matteo Malucelli inched closer to “Mr Langkawi” Andrea Guardini’s 24 career LTdL stage victories after crossing the finish line first at Putrajaya.
He now equals Australia’s Graeme Allen Brown on nine stage wins.
Riley Pickrell of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling had to once again settle for second best behind Malucelli in both the stage rankings as well as the overall best sprinter race (blue jersey).
Pickrell ended on 57 points, which was not enough to catch Malucelli who had 64 points by the end of the eight stages.
The white jersey for the best Asian rider was claimed by Yuhi Todome of Aisan Racing Team, who successfully defended the jersey for six consecutive days.
Spanish outfit Caja Rural-Seguros RGA won the overall team general classification, while Indonesian team Nusantara secured back-to-back titles as the best Asian team.
STAGE 8 RESULTS
Top 10 finishers: 1. Matteo Malucelli (Ita) XDS-Astana, 2. Riley Pickrell (Can) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, 3. Christiaan Van Rees (Ned) Team Picnic PostNL, 4. Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, 5. Filippo Cettolin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, 6. Rory Townsend (Ire) Unibet Rose Rockets, 7. Mathis Le Berre (Fra) TotalEnergies, 8. Daniel Cavia Sanz (Esp) Burgos Burpellet-BH, 9. Mohd Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil (Mas) Malaysia Pro Cycling, 10. Muh Imam Arifin (Ina) Nusantara (Note: All same time - 4’05:17).
Orange Jersey (Overall Leader): 1. Lennart Jasch (Ger) Tudor Pro Cycling 28’57:02, 2. Abel Balderstone (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 28’57:28, 3. Jan Castellon (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 28’57:44, 4. Jose Manuel Diaz (Esp) Burgos Burpellet-BH 28’52:22, 5. Eivind Broholt Foughner (Nor) Unibet Rose Rockets 28’58:39.
Blue Jersey (Best Sprinter): 1. Matteo Malucelli (Ita) XDS-Astana 64 pts, 2. Riley Pickrell (Can) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling 57, 3. Nil Gimeno Ferrer (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma 22.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of Mountain): 1. Lennart Jasch (Ger) Tudor Pro Cycling 45 pts, 2. Petr Rikunov (Rus) Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu 41, 3. Jan Cestellon (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 26.
White Jersey (Best Asian Rider): 1. Yuhi Todeme (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 29’04:23, 2Tsen Ren Bao (Mas) St George Continental 29’08:07, 3. Kee Zhe Yie (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 29’10:21.
Team General Classification: 1. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 87’02:12, 2. Unibet Rose Rockets 87’05:45, 3. Burgos Burpellet-BH 87’06:49.
Best Asian Team: 1. Nusantara 87’42:33, 2. Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu 87’47:07, 3. Malaysia National Team 87’52:23.
